Last night was powerful. It was a night filled with worship, praise, education, emotion, and a lot of information was thrown at us in a very short period of time. What this blog post is designed to do is to help unpack a little bit of what we learned and saw last night at the Human Trafficking Event over at Central Pres. Please know that I'm here for you all to answer questions, voice concerns, and dialogue with you all no matter what. Here's what we can learn from last night.
1) Be careful wherever you are, and whoever you are.
Now, I will say this Chambersburg, PA is a fairly safe town. But, that's not to say there aren't risks here or wherever you go. The truth of the matter is that our world is broken and sinful and in desperate need of being saved by the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. With that being said there are some very evil people in our world today, and we need to be as Jesus reminded us in Matthew 10:16, "Be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves." Our hope last night was not to scare anyone or make anyone become paranoid, but rather the goal was to raise awareness about how we as the body of Christ can both be extremely careful and protect ourselves and loved ones. The other goal was to dialogue and communicate how we as Christians can stand up against evil and speak truth and grace into every situation. So, we encourage you to dialogue with your young people, pay close attention to their friends, social media contacts, changes in behavior, etc. make sure you pray regularly for your young people, and finally make sure you're always prepared to show tough love when a certain situation or person doesn't seem right.
2) Become the voice to the voiceless.
The one question which swirling around in my mind a lot last night was, where is the church? If 27 million are enslaved the church needs to stand up and be a voice for the voiceless. I will say this, some of us may never come in contact with someone we know or see someone getting sold. Let's hope and pray that never happens to us or a loved one. But, there are lots of people in our community who don't have enough to eat. There are many people in Chambersburg who are homeless, uneducated, unemployed, and many people who aren't capable of speaking up for their basic needs or rights. You can be that voice. You can be the light in someone's darkness, one of the main ways/reasons why people willingly enter human trafficking situations is because they don't have enough money to provide for themselves or their family. You can help decrease the amount of people trafficked each year by being faithful in giving to your food bank, church, mission organizations, volunteering your time, and above all spending time in prayer.
3) Sex was created for marriage.
One of the big mistakes people can make is by using/engaging in sex outside of its intended purpose. This is something that is forgivable, but it can lead down a very slippery slope. If you take nothing else away take this incredible truth/lesson away that sex is an incredible gift if used in the right way and a potentially dangerous weapon to yourself if used in the wrong way. Many of our young people will have questions and other young people saying things to them that can both support and contradict the Bible, but one of the best lessons I've learned is that it's better to wait and as Erin (the youth director from Central reminded us last night) MODEST is HOTTEST!
It may be uncomfortable, but please don't shy away from discussing these things with your young people. They're looking for answers, and my hope is that they can find them through either their parents or their church. If you have any questions at all about last night or what was presented please don't hesitate to ask.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Thursday, March 13, 2014
#3 of Life's Deceptions: You Have to do God's Work
Life is already tiresome, exhausting enough, don't make life harder than you need to be. This is one of the more subtle deceptions that you will see in our world today, because what happens in this deception is it looks like you are doing something good, but in the end it can be damaging to both you and the person you're witnessing to.
Let me explain about this deception, many excellent people fall into this deception because they believe God's work needs to be done by them. We are as followers of Jesus Christ called to be like God. We're called to point people to God. But, we're not called to do God's work. Most specifically we as Christians and followers of Jesus aren't called to judge others or save others, that's what God does, has been doing long before we entered the picture, and will continue to do long after we leave the scene. So, the question remains what exactly are we as Christians called to do? What is the Christian life all about? Well, let's dive in!
Jesus in Matthew 7:1-2 states, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." I will say the beauty of this verse is there isn't any real grey area here. It is black and white. Our job is not to judge others, to make them feel bad about their sinfulness, or errors. But, our goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us, speak through us, and draw people to become more like Jesus each and every day. There is a fine line to walk between not judging people and saying every single behavior is okay. Be very diligent about being in prayer and ask for wisdom when confronting someone who's behavior is sinful. Make sure always that you are encouraging people, pointing them to Jesus, praying for them, and above all doing our best to make sure their behavior is changed. Let me just make sure it is perfectly clear at the final judgment you won't be judging others on their sin, God will be. Your goal is to not to judge but rather to be faithful, and Jesus reminded us in Matthew 22 what we're called to be faithful to, "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." You don't have to do God's work, love God, love your neighbor, be faithful and committed to doing that, and the rest will fall into place.
You are called not to judge, and you are also called not to save people. Saving people is God's job, and only God is strong enough to save people from their sins. However, the amazing part is we as human beings do have a role in the matter. We as Christians know the instructions and the way to salvation our job is to hand and tell people where to find it. It would be like if someone handed you a treasure map to the most glorious, beautiful, and satisfying treasure ever. The treasure was vast enough to be for everyone, you didn't put the treasure there, but you know how to find it, and you know where to show others where it is. That's your goal in God's salvific activity, show people where to find it. It's up to them ultimately, but if God has anything to do with it they will enjoy the immense satisfaction of this treasure. I'm reminded of the parable of the sower for this, and the sower's job is not to make the seed grow or take root, all the sower is responsible for is to sow the seed. Be faithful in loving people, encouraging people, and sowing the seed that's your job. Leave the rest up to God.
Let me explain about this deception, many excellent people fall into this deception because they believe God's work needs to be done by them. We are as followers of Jesus Christ called to be like God. We're called to point people to God. But, we're not called to do God's work. Most specifically we as Christians and followers of Jesus aren't called to judge others or save others, that's what God does, has been doing long before we entered the picture, and will continue to do long after we leave the scene. So, the question remains what exactly are we as Christians called to do? What is the Christian life all about? Well, let's dive in!
Jesus in Matthew 7:1-2 states, "Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." I will say the beauty of this verse is there isn't any real grey area here. It is black and white. Our job is not to judge others, to make them feel bad about their sinfulness, or errors. But, our goal is to allow the Holy Spirit to work through us, speak through us, and draw people to become more like Jesus each and every day. There is a fine line to walk between not judging people and saying every single behavior is okay. Be very diligent about being in prayer and ask for wisdom when confronting someone who's behavior is sinful. Make sure always that you are encouraging people, pointing them to Jesus, praying for them, and above all doing our best to make sure their behavior is changed. Let me just make sure it is perfectly clear at the final judgment you won't be judging others on their sin, God will be. Your goal is to not to judge but rather to be faithful, and Jesus reminded us in Matthew 22 what we're called to be faithful to, "You should love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." You don't have to do God's work, love God, love your neighbor, be faithful and committed to doing that, and the rest will fall into place.
You are called not to judge, and you are also called not to save people. Saving people is God's job, and only God is strong enough to save people from their sins. However, the amazing part is we as human beings do have a role in the matter. We as Christians know the instructions and the way to salvation our job is to hand and tell people where to find it. It would be like if someone handed you a treasure map to the most glorious, beautiful, and satisfying treasure ever. The treasure was vast enough to be for everyone, you didn't put the treasure there, but you know how to find it, and you know where to show others where it is. That's your goal in God's salvific activity, show people where to find it. It's up to them ultimately, but if God has anything to do with it they will enjoy the immense satisfaction of this treasure. I'm reminded of the parable of the sower for this, and the sower's job is not to make the seed grow or take root, all the sower is responsible for is to sow the seed. Be faithful in loving people, encouraging people, and sowing the seed that's your job. Leave the rest up to God.
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